Tessellate
by Zoe Grimes
Summary: "I thought I lost you," she whispered, clutching onto him as if she were holding onto dear life itself. / It's the end of the world and Deputies Shane Walsh and Maya Kennedy are doing everything in their power to protect their small group of survivors outside the city of Atlanta. But what happens when a man they both thought to be dead comes back into their lives? [RickxOC]


**Disclaimer: **I don't own The Walking Dead or any of its characters.

**A/N**: I love Daryl as much as the next girl, but Rick doesn't get nearly enough love in my opinion. So this is a Rick/OC centered story.

Anyway, this will start from the very first season, and go up to the second and possibly third season. Some scenes will deviate from those in the canon plot.

* * *

**PROLOGUE**

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* * *

"Well good mornin' there sunshine!" a familiar voice boomed obnoxiously as soon as she stepped through the doors of the King Country Sheriff's Department.

Letting out a loud gasp of pain, Deputy Maya Kennedy took a clumsy step backwards, clutching her pounding head between both of her hands.

"Jesus Christ!" she hissed through gritted teeth. She then looked up at her assailant and shot him a malicious glare. "Do you really have to be so damn loud?"

Shane grinned over the top of his styrofoam coffee cup as his dark eyes gave her a quick once over. His grin widened. "Aw. Looks to me like someone's a little hungover."

Maya gingerly rubbed her aching temples. This was the second year that Shane had done this to her. "Well I'm glad you're amused," she snapped at him. "I feel like shit."

"And you look like shit too," he added teasingly. "Guess that's what happens when you spend all night sitting on the bathroom floor with your head in the toilet, huh?"

"I hate you so much," she muttered. She shoved past him and stomped towards her office, ignoring the strange looks she recieved from their colleagues along the way.

"C'mon now, Maya," Shane chuckled as he easily caught up with her. "It ain't my fault. I wasn't the one shoving all those drinks down your throat at the bar last night."

She let out an irritable sigh as she punched her identification number into the key pad outside of her door. "Get lost, Walsh. I've got a lot of work to do today."

Maya pushed open the door to her office and walked inside, sighing again when she heard Shane following close behind her. She tried to ignore his presence in her office and set her brown leather satchel down on her desk, rummaging through it. She knew for a fact that she had to have something, anything in there that would help get rid of her nearly unbearable headache. She sluggishly searched her bag's contents until she finally came across a small bottle of aspirin tablets at the bottom. "Aha!" she exclaimed triumphantly, immediately regretting it as the sound of her own voice sent another wave of agonizing pain through her already throbbing head. She grimaced. "Ow—okay, I probably shouldn't have done that." She leaned against her desk, waiting for her double vision to subside before unscrewing the cap off of the plastic bottle. "I'm never drinking again. Never."

"Yeah, that's what you said last year and yet here we are." Shane laughed and handed her his coffee. "You're gonna need something to wash those down."

She roughly snatched the cup out of his hand and popped two of the aspirin tablets into her mouth, quickly washing them down with a large gulp of hot, sweetened coffee.

"Oh and by the way," he started, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks." After taking another sip of coffee, she set the cup down on her desk and glanced at her watch. "Hey, do you know if Rick is on the clock already?"

"Don't think so," he replied, removing his arm from around her. "I didn't see him come in this morning. Wasn't in the staff lounge either."

Maya frowned. "We're supposed to go down to Carl's school today and host an assembly for the kids on safety. We need to be there in half an hour."

"Relax, he's probably just runnin' a little late this morning." Shane shrugged and turned around, heading for the door. "I gotta get to work. I'll catch you later for lunch."

"Late. He's been making a real habit out of that lately," Maya mumbled to herself as the door closed behind him. She took her cell phone out of her pocket and hid the first speed dial; she turned around, facing her window as she waited for her call to be answered. It didn't even surprise her when her call ended up going to his voicemail box. She grumbled under her breath and tried dialing him once more. "C'mon Rick!" she barked into her phone. "Dammit, answer your phone!"

"It's still in the car, Maya."

She jumped, spinning around just as he sauntered into her office.

Maya hung up the phone and stared at him for a long moment.

He looked so well rested, while she looked like she hadn't slept in several days. He didn't look like he had spent a whole night sitting at the local bar, matching her shot for shot of hard liquor. She slipped her phone into her pocket and walked around to the front of her desk, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You're late, Rick," she told him, tossing him a stern look. "Third time this week. If the chief finds out, he's not going to be too thrilled with you, I hope you know that."

"Sorry. I've just been having a rough morning."

"What happened?"

Rick remained silent, his blue eyes instantly darting away from her dark brown ones.

Suddenly, she realized what was going on and she couldn't help but feel a little bad for giving him a hard time.

Maya's expression softened. "Oh c'mon, it couldn't have been as rough as mine," she joked lightly, hoping to at least lift the somber look on his face.

"Hangover?" he guessed in a quiet voice.

"The worst one I've had in a while," she admitted, sheepishly. "I guess this is what I get for trying to outdrink you and Shane."

Rick said nothing as he stepped closer towards her, his serious expression unchanged.

There would come a point where he was going to break, she knew that and she was sure that he did too.

He stopped in front of her, their bodies just inches apart, and she felt that familiar fluttering sensation inside of her chest.

Even after all these years, she still wasn't quite used to the feeling.

"Hey. Talk to me," she said softly after a long moment of silence. "Is everything alright?"

Rick's lips pressed into a tight line. That was enough of an answer for her already.

"Rick?" Maya touched his arm. "It couldn't have been that bad. What did she say to you?"

"She's gonna file for divorce."

She sighed a little. "She throws that at you all the time when you guys fight, it's just another bluff. She doesn't mean it."

"No, Maya. She's serious this time around. She wants a divorce. And not only that, but she wants me to give up full custody of Carl."

"What?" Maya's eyes widened in complete shock. "She can't ask you to do that, she couldn't possibly ask you to do that—is she insane?"

He sighed. "She's already contacted an attorney. Told me I should do the same."

"She can't take him away from you Rick. She can't—"

"I didn't think things were this bad. I mean, I knew she wasn't happy with me anymore, but I didn't think it would get to this point..." Rick's voice wavered slightly.

Maya frowned. "And Carl? Does he know anything about this yet?"

"No, he doesn't know. Lori wants to talk to him tonight when as soon as I get home. She plans on taking him and staying with her mother in Atlanta."

It suddenly dawned on her that it wasn't Lori leaving him that bothered him, rather, it was the fact that she was taking his son with her.

Maya reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close. She felt his arms lock around her waist and she said nothing as she held him.

Her heart was breaking for him. She honestly didn't know what to do or say. She had always had such a soft spot for Rick, ever since the day she had first met him.

She pulled away from him and he looked down at her, the sadness evident in his gaze.

"I'm here for you," she told him gently. "No matter what. You know that, don't you?"

"She never liked you," Rick whispered. "Lori. She never liked you."

"I know that she doesn't like me."

"She always thought that we...that you and me..."

Maya held up a hand to stop him. "I know why she doesn't like me, Rick."

He shook his head. "If she takes him, if she leaves and she takes my boy..."

"Hey. It's going to be okay." She reached up and cupped the side of his face. "It'll be okay."

Finally, for the first time since he walked into her office, Rick allowed his eyes to meet hers. Then, without warning, he turned his head and kissed the palm of her hand.

The feeling of his lips on her skin caused her breath to hitch in her throat and her heart to skip several beats.

Their closeness wasn't a new discovery. It was natural for them to offer small tokens of affection like a kiss on the forehead, or palm, or lacing fingers together.

Suddenly, after what seemed like an eternity in the moment, the door to her office burst open, startling them both.

"Rick, there you are—" Shane stopped abruptly and looked from one deputy to the other. "Am I interruptin' something?"

Maya quickly yanked her hand away from Rick's face, feeling her face grow warm. "No. We were just talking." She stepped away from him. "What's up?"

"Right." Shane shot her a strange look then turned to Rick. "Hey, station just got a call. There's a high speed pursuit, both suspects are thought to be armed. We need to go."

Maya nodded. "I'll ride along with Deputy Kendal."

"He's already got Basset with him," Shane remarked. "Besides, I don't think you should get involved in this one. Like I said, suspects might be armed."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Shane I think I can handle it—"

"He's right," Rick was quick to agree. "Besides, you need to get down to the elementary school to talk to the kids. I think you can handle them without me, right?"

Maya shook her head, feeling slightly annoyed with them.

The two men were always going out of their way to protect her, and it bothered her that they felt the need to shield her from the dangers of her job.

"Please, Maya," Rick said, noticing the look on her face. "Don't argue. Just go down to the school. We'll take care of this one."

Despite the urge to keep protesting, she knew they were stubborn and crunched on time. "Okay," she sighed, holding her hands up in defeat. "Okay. Fine."

Shane nodded. "Right then. We need to move, Rick. Now."

"Be careful out there, you guys."

"We will." Rick gave her a kiss on her cheek and touched her shoulder. "Oh, and before I forget—Happy Birthday, Maya."


End file.
